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By Nora O. Gamolo, Senior Desk Editor
Scientists and local government leaders are now
pushing for the establishment of community-based teams to respond to
critical events like disasters and other emergencies.
July happens to be National Disaster
Consciousness Month.
In a training coordinated by the Office of Civil
Defense in Kawit, Cavite, geologist Renato Solidum, head of the
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs),
admitted that the country is hampered by the lack of community-based
hazard monitoring and warning systems.
Cavite’s training was participated in by
almost 200 barangay leaders from the low-lying, coastal areas of
Cavite that are prone to storm surges and floodings. It was part of
Project Ready that trains community leaders to respond to disaster
situations.
“Disaster management and risk reduction
measures are needed, especially if you have a heavily populated area
like Cavite province, with many vulnerabilities identified,” said
Larry Monzon, Cavite’s deputized civil defense coordinator.
To minimize disasters, community leaders have to
be trained to implement activities and other measures for disaster
reduction, including building up awareness and preparedness, and
contingency and development planning, advised Solidum.
The government is now implementing Project
Ready, with five agencies working together to train communities and
local government leaders.
Training for various disasters
The project’s training program covers topics
such as map appreciation; results of the hazards mapping on storm
surge, rain-induced landslide, ground rupture, ground shaking,
earthquake-induced landslide, liquefaction, and tsunami; early
warning system for flood and tsunami; and Philippine disaster
management system and contingency planning.
In the training, participants are provided with
area-specific hazard maps, to help them evaluate the hazards present
in their respective areas. After a series of lectures in these
areas, they are expected to draw up their respective local disaster
management plan and share it with their constituents.
“By knowing the dangers they may likely face,
the municipal and barangay officials can be better equipped in
making plans and actions to mitigate the adverse impacts of hazards
in their localities,” said Solidum.
Besides Philvolcs, the agencies involved in
Project Ready are the Office of Civil Defense; Philippine
Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Administration; Mines and
Geosciences Bureau; and the National Mapping and Resource Inventory
Authority.
The project covers 27 provinces and has three
main components: Multihazard identification and risk assessment;
community-based disaster preparedness; and mainstreaming of risk
reduction into the local development planning process.
A community also needs hazard maps for land use
and development planning, and Solidum assured the Philippines has
enough experts to produce the maps.
In time, Project Ready hopes to build
community-based disaster preparedness by installing community-based
early warning systems. Likewise, drills for situations like floods,
earthquakes and tsunamis, among others will be conducted.
“Every hazard requires different levels of
preparedness and skills. We have to prepare based on realistic
scenarios, and prepare for extreme events like Typhoon Frank and the
situation in 2004 when we had four big typhoons in less than three
weeks,” said Solidum.
Community-based monitors have already been
trained and are already functional such as the team in Dumangas,
Iloilo, that is involved in flood monitoring.
In time, the project hopes to mainstream risk
reduction into the local development planning process by local
units; adoption of relevant ordinances and policies for the
implementation of disaster risk reduction activities; use of hazard
and risk assessment software developed by the weather bureau;
contingency planning; and integration of risk reduction in the
overall development planning process.
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